


The Time Travelers' Daughter

by dragonwings948



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s06e07 A Good Man Goes to War, Family, Family Feels, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Post-Episode: s06e07 A Good Man Goes to War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 23:17:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14779176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: Amy and Rory have to come to terms with River Song being their daughter, but they still can't quite wrap their minds around it.





	The Time Travelers' Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> Another fic I wrote after I rewatched Eleven's entire run and was super emotional. It struck me for the first time that we never get to see Amy and Rory's reactions to River being their daughter! I knew I had to write it. And thus, this fic was born.

            _“It’s me. I’m Melody. I’m your daughter.”_

Amy just stared.

            At the end of all of this, it was supposed to make sense. It wasn’t supposed to be complicated; just her, Rory, and their beautiful baby, safe at home in Leadworth.

            It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Amy couldn’t even begin to wrap her head around it. How could this woman, this mad, clever, ridiculous woman, be her…her _daughter?_

            “N-No.” Rory spoke up first, his voice tight with emotion. “You can’t be. That’s not…”

            _That’s not possible,_ Amy thought, finishing his sentence, but she knew that he had trailed off because he knew very well that it _was_ possible. With the Doctor, life was crazier than they could have ever imagined.

            But it wasn’t supposed to involve this. It wasn’t supposed to involve _their baby._

“Melody?” she asked, looking into River’s eyes. She would never forget the face of the baby she had held in her arms, and this woman looked nothing liked her. How could she be her little Melody?

            River nodded once, her lips twitching into a smile as tears filled her eyes. “Yes, Amy.”

            “But how…” She took a deep breath as she felt wet trails tracked down her own cheeks. “How can you be our daughter?” This was River Song, the mystery woman who showed up occasionally to flirt with the Doctor. She couldn’t be…couldn’t be….

            Suddenly Amy remembered when they had wordlessly communicated to destroy the Doctor’s fez on top of the museum. How Amy had admired River’s headstrong attitude because it reminded her of herself. The way River had looked at her sometimes…she had always been so carefully guarded, just like the Doctor, but sometimes she would get this look when staring at Amy, like she was someone much more important than the Doctor’s friend…

            Amy felt Rory’s hand envelop hers and realised that she was shaking. She raised her other arm halfway, clenching her hand into a fist to try and stop her fingers from trembling. After a moment she lifted her hand to River’s face, brushing her curls to the side to place a hand on her cheek.

            River’s eyes closed for a moment and Amy felt the muscles in her jaw tighten. River let out a long sigh, and when she opened her eyes again they were full of tears and so, so sad. She looked right into Amy’s eyes and she knew, once and for all, that it was her.

            “My Melody,” Amy said, unable to muster anything louder than a whisper. “My little Melody.”

            River sniffed and her smile returned to normal. She quickly wiped her tears away and stepped back from Amy. “You two stay right here while I get the others home.” She started walking away and called over her shoulder, “Jenny, Vastra, over here. Strax can’t move so we’ll have to go to him.” The two followed her into the shadows and in a few seconds Amy heard the strange whoosh that the vortex manipulator made.

            “Amy?” Rory asked, squeezing her hand. “Are you okay?”

            “Okay?” she repeated. She spun around, breaking their grip. “Of course I’m not okay!” she shouted. She took in Rory’s shocked expression and lowered her voice. “She’s our daughter. We’ve-we’ve seen her do all sorts of things, she’s _older_ than us, and she’s our daughter.”

            “I know.” He held out his hands in a placating gesture. “I know, Amy, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

            Amy shook her head. “How is this possible? This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

            Rory placed his hands on her arms. “It’s like the rest of our life with the Doctor. It’s completely mad.”

            Suddenly River materialised beside them, as if proving the point. “All right you two, your turn.” She held out her arm and nodded at the device on her wrist. “Just place your hands there.”

            “Strax,” Rory began as he did as River said. “Is he going to be okay?”

            “I left him with Jenny and Vastra. They’ll take care of him.”

            Rory looked down. “We never even got to thank them. All these people risking their lives to protect…” He barked a sarcastic laugh. “…well, you. And we don’t even know them.”

            “They don’t need thanks. They all owed the Doctor, anyway.” And with that River pressed a button on the vortex manipulator and Demon’s Run disappeared. Only moments later they appeared in their living room, the sun shining bright through the windows.

            “How do you know where we live?” Amy asked as she looked around at the house. It felt like years since she had been here last.

            River smirked. “Spoilers.”

            “So,” Rory said after an awkward moment of silence, “what happens now?”

            “Well, I go break back into my prison cell and you two live out your dull and dreary lives here.” She started punching in coordinates with a chuckle.

            “Wait. So that’s it? You’re…you’re our daughter.”

            “Yeah,” Amy chimed in, “can’t we, I don’t know, just talk or something?”

            River paused. “I’m not sure it’s the best idea—”

            “I don’t care.” Amy put her hand over River’s. “You’re my daughter, and I want to talk to you.”

            Rory pointed over his shoulder towards the kitchen. “I’ll just go…put the kettle on.”

            As the sound of Rory’s footsteps faded away, River dropped her arms. “I suppose I could stay…for a bit.”

            It was the strangest thing. Amy had never seen River song anything but one-hundred percent confident in herself. But now there was hesitance and wariness in her expression. No matter who was in the room, she seemed to always be in control. But not so now. It was like she was a different person. _Melody._

            That was an easy place to start.

            “Why did you start calling yourself River Song?”

            River smiled. “Melody Pond is a beautiful name, like a superhero.”

            Amy inhaled sharply, remembering that she had said the same thing not so long ago. But how could she know?

            “Are you all right?”

            “Yeah, it’s just that I said that.” She looked right into her eyes, her _daughter’s_ eyes. “Rory and I were holding you at Demon’s Run…not the real you, though, the flesh you, and I said that Melody Pond is the name of a superhero.”

            Her smile widened. “Like mother, like daughter. There’s a story behind why I go by River Song.” Her eyes glinted with mirth. “Spoilers.”

            Amy sighed. “We really can’t ask you anything then, can we? We don’t even know when or if the Doctor finds you.”

            “There’s not a lot I can tell you about the beginning of my life, no. The Doctor does find me, though. I’m proof of that.”

            “But after how long?” Amy trusted the Doctor with her life, of course she did, and she knew he would scour the universe to find her baby. But she also knew that there were some things even he couldn’t control. “That woman…those terrible people…right now they have my baby, and who knows what sort of things they’re doing to her.”

            “I know it’s hard, but it will all turn out okay.” River took her hand. “I know it will.”

            Amy slipped her hand from River’s hold. “You’re in prison. For killing someone.”

            River’s expression dimmed. “I’m not the perfect little girl you wanted, Amy. I’ve done things…”

            “River,” Amy said firmly, “who did you kill?”

            River’s eyes searched hers. “I think you’ve already guessed, haven’t you?”

            “They said he was a good man.” She remembered watching the Doctor bowl over after the shock of the laser, watching the astronaut suit fire at him again and again. She remembered the gut-wrenching shock, the white-hot anger and sadness that had flared through her. River had been with her, had looked just as shocked, but it wouldn’t be the first time that there were two of someone if River really had been inside that suit. “Why?” she asked, her voice trembling.

            River pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

            “I don’t _care_ about spoilers!” Amy shouted, her frustration coming out all at once. “I just want to know _why!”_ She balled her hands up into fists. “I just want my little girl to be okay!”

            River Song’s expression sagged even further. “Come here and sit down,” she said gently, grabbing Amy’s hand and leading her to the couch. Amy slumped down onto the couch cushions and breathed a shaky sigh as River sat down next to her, wrapping her arm around Amy’s shoulders.

            “I’m sorry,” Amy said, wiping angry tears away.

            “You don’t need to be sorry. You’re still in shock; your mind is trying to grasp it. You’re scared and confused, angry and unsure. You lash out without thinking.”

            “I pointed a gun at you earlier,” Amy recalled. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

            River pressed Amy to her side. “It’s okay.”

            “But how do you know?” She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes again. “How do you know what I’m feeling?”

            River smiled and chuckled a little. “Because I do the same thing. I got that from you, mother dear.”

            “Tea is ready,” Rory announced as he entered the room, carrying three steaming mugs. When he locked eyes with Amy, he quickly set the mugs down on the coffee table and sat on Amy’s other side.

            “Are you okay?” he asked, grabbing her hand.

            “Of course I’m not okay, stupid.”

            “Okay, that’s fair.”

            The three of them sat in silence for a few moments, silently sipping on their tea.

            “How long did you know?” Rory asked quietly.

            River looked over at him. “What do you mean?”

            “I mean all this time, all the times we’ve seen you, you’ve known, haven’t you? You had to pretend like you didn’t know us.”

            River nodded slowly. “Yes.”

            “But why couldn’t you just tell us?” Amy asked.

            “You had to find out today, right at this time. Otherwise, things might have changed. And we all know who would have disapproved of that.”

            “I don’t care about the laws of time. I’d do anything to have my baby back.”

            River stared down at her mug. “I’m sorry.”

            “All I wanted was to have something normal.” She stared at the table as she said it. “I love my life with the Doctor, but when I realised I was going to have you I just saw a normal life back in Leadworth where we could raise you.”

            “It’s like our whole lives revolve around him now,” Rory reflected.

            “Don’t blame this on him,” River said quickly. “It’s not his fault.”

            “But earlier,” Rory put in, “you actually did tell him it was all his fault.”

            River smiled a little. “Yes, well…he needed to hear it then.” She took one last sip of tea, set it down on the table, and sighed. “Well,” she said, standing up, “it’s about time I’m off. Thank you for the tea.”

            Amy shot to her feet and grabbed River’s arm. “But you can’t leave.”

            River sighed and her eyes held the sadness of ages. “I’m afraid this isn’t where I belong, mother.”

            “At least come see us sometimes,” Rory said, getting up next to Amy. ‘It doesn’t matter when.”

            A vulnerable look came into River’s eyes, something that again astonished Amy because nothing ever broke through River’s hardened shell. “Maybe.” She looked into both of their eyes with a steely determination. “Stay strong. The Doctor will find Melody.”

            And with that, she was gone in a spark of electricity and a faint smell of smoke. Amy just stared at where she had been a moment ago, wishing she’d come back.

            Why did it all have to be so complicated?

            Amy turned to Rory and threw her arms around him, hugging him tight. He held her just as desperately, making her believe that he needed her just as much right now.

           


End file.
